Ulysses
by Asso
Summary: My attempt to write a continuation from The Good That Men. When Ulysses Trip came back, he found Penelope weaving the cloth, but not only that.


**Ulysses**By Asso

_In __July 2007 I wrote my first fanfic. _

_I posted it on __Triaxian Silk because it was a story about Trip and T'Pol, the couple I'm in love with._

_Now, I want to post this story here, hoping it may be enjoyed._

_Please, be kind._

* * *

**Genre**: Romance, sweet … very, very sweet.

**Summary**: When Ulysses came back, he found Penelope weaving the cloth, but not only that.

**Spoilers**: All and nothing. Many suggestions stolen here and there.

**Disclaime**r: Star Trek: Enterprise is owned by Paramount, not me. No infringement intended, no profit made

**Author's Notes. **

The words in italic between () represent the thoughts.

My first language is not English. Greatest thanks to justTrip'n, who edited my story with care and cleverness.

And dearness.

* * *

**Ulysses**

Noises and shouts ceased.

I keep on protectively hugging my newborn babies, and little by little they calm down.

Slowly, I raise my head and listen, scared of what I may hear.

A buzz, beyond the door.

I hold my breath.

I feel . . . fear.

Someone opens the door.

Phlox shows up and stands still in doorway.

He's filthy and torn, but he smiles, with difficulty and relief at the same time.

I can see it.

_I can feel it. _

He comes near the bed where I'm lying, enfolding the twins in my arms, with maternal care.

_With maternal love. _

He places his left hand on my arm, and then with the right he delicately strokes the head of both my small children, who now are sleeping, at last.

"It's over!" Phlox says. "Death no longer threatens us".

His voice becomes lower and sweeter.

"Death and the enemy's blind hate no longer threaten _you_, or _the_ _children_."

I close my eyes without speaking.

"Yes, it's all over!" Commander Reed – (_No, Malcolm! Malcolm, my friend!_) – showed up in the doorway, and utters these words, with a weary voice. "None of those worms survives, Human or Vulcan, Terra Prime or friend of Terra Prime. The information came just in time. HE sent the information just in time. And the Admiral shipped us here, to your home, to protect you and your children, just in time".

"We arrived before the Vulcan ship," he adds with a tense smile.

He makes some steps forward.

We stare each other.

He appears very jaded, and is bleeding from a bad wound on his forehead.

Once more, I close my eyes, without uttering a word.

Suddenly, Malcolm's communicator starts beeping.

He speaks into it.

"Reed here."

"He will come within ten minutes"

It's the Hoshi's familiar voice.

"On my way."

Malcom shuts off the com.

I listen closely to this exchange.

My eyes snap wide open, and I look at him, intensely.

_Expectantly. _

Malcolm stares steadily at me.

"He managed to gain control of the damned Romulan drone-ship, which landed here. Those bloody Terra Primers."

Malcolm continues, "I don't know how the hell he did it. Or from where the hell he did it. But he did! He prevented the drone-ship from firing on our ship or the Vulcan ship sent by T'Pau."

"It's difficult to see how a _dead man_ can do these sorts of things!"

Phlox's words, gently jeering, resound sweet to my ears, but also they stir in me a disquiet, an anxiety that is almost verging on pain.

And I'm tired of bottling up my emotions.

I cannot do it now.

_Surely not now. _

Yet again Malcolm looks at me, and yet again he speaks, with purpose.

"I believe the time came for him to make a choice. He could have chosen to keep on hiding himself behind his Romulan appearance, so as to carry on with his work."

My friend goes on with his speaking, his lips bending up in a slight and knowing smile.

"Or HE could have chosen..."

(_…to protect me!_)

I lay down my head on the cushion, breathing deeply.

In my mind flashes vivid the scene of him moving precariously forward along that subtle thread, lost in space, — **in the endless void!** Risking his life to protect us!

(_To_ _protect me! To save me from death!_ )

My eyes shut, while I try to chase away from my brain the awful sensation of those moments, while I was holding my breath.

_While I was dying little by little__, watching him move, fearing a slip. _

_Stubbornly denying the depth of my feelings for him!_

(_And now, once again, he has protected me._)

The warmth of our baby's bodies fully fills my heart.

I hold tightly them against myself.

(_And he has protected… our children. Distant, injured, I know. And again he has protected me. __**He'll always protect me… He'll always protect us!**_)

Malcolm lifts a hand to greet me, shyly.

"It's better I go. You and the twins should rest".

He turns swiftly and leaves us.

I look at Phlox.

He's smiling with his immense smile.

"I'll follow Commander Reed, it's better. Really all of you three should rest, and then… _I wouldn't want to intrude on your party._"

I grasp and squeeze his hand.

I know my eyes are moist.

He has been beside me...

_He has been close to me all this time. _

He has taken care of me in my solitude… and in my fear.

I owe him... my children!

Their life and their birth.

He always gave me hope.

Phlox still smiles, looking a little ill at ease.

He returns my grip.

Then, with a last soft and friendly smile, he goes away.

He goes out from the room, closing the door behind him. I look at my babies, who are sleeping, finally peaceful.

Yet again, I lay down my head on the cushion, shutting my eyes.

_And I wait. _

————————————————————————————————————————

Footsteps fall. There is noise in the hall.

I stare at the door.

The footsteps cease, behind it.

I watch the handle go down.

The door opens and … _I can see him!_

He starts to move forward, proceeding slowly, gazing at me, and… dragging an injured leg.

He stops his laborious walking near my bed.

I observe his face, feeling my heart leaping.

He looks tired out and ragged.

Crushed.

_Achy._

Holding my breath, I watch what he has put on, on his head.

On his beautiful face.

A black bandana tied behind the nape covers his hair, a black eye-patch occults his eye.

_Like a pirate…_

But he is not a pirate and I…

… _I do not dare to think… why he's wearing those things!_

He is motionless in front of my bed… in front of me.

His eye… his blue eye… _the only eye I can see_… is fixed, wide open, on me.

Suddenly that eye flashes on the children.

_My children and… his._

The children he has never seen.

Whom I have never mentioned to him.

For his sake.

And mine.

Slowly that eye softens in wonder and tenderness, while his lips mildly bend up in a soft and sweet smile.

_While my heart sinks into an endless and doughy warmth._

I know what he is staring at.

What he is thinking of.

He's gazing at our babies, looking astounded at their ears… _pointed_… like mine.

(_Those beautiful pointed ears…_)

These words whirl in my mind.

They are the words he sweetly was whispering in my ears in our moments of intimacy, his teeth tenderly biting the tips, his tongue softly stroking the earlobes…

My heart melting…

My eyes closed…

_Pleasure running and shouting through me! _

He reaches out, but suddenly pulls his hand back to his side, ashamed, trying to hide it from my sight.

But I have seen that hand …

_It's a crippled hand!_

I feel a lump in my throat.

I lift my head, and I grasp that hand with both of mine.

I take it to my lips and I kiss gently and passionately his tortured fingers.

Never again will this hand be useful in the job he loves, but always…**ALWAYS!**... this hand will know how to stroke me!

Always this hand will be capable of arousing in me shudders of delight and of pleasure.

_And I will know how to give him… solace. _

I raise my look on his face… _on his eye_… while I keep on holding strongly his hand.

Now his eye is locked with mine, and it… shines and sparkles.

All of a sudden the little girl emits a sound.

She opens her eyes and sees her father.

She stares at him and then… she smiles.

Peaceful, she closes her eyes.

It's like she has understood nothing can happen now to her, or to her brother.

_Or to me._

And, to my left side, her brother moves slightly, and, without opening his eyes, he smiles.

I gaze at my bond-mate.

_At my husband_.

He opens his lips and whispers sweetly my name.

Slowly, he kneels, while I sit on the bed, huddling my legs.

Our faces are very close and we look each other, almost incredulous of this moment.

With a sudden motion, I embrace him and he returns my hug, enfolding me in his arms.

I hide my face in his chest and finally I feel tears of joy — _yes… of joy_ — on my cheeks.

Finally the words come out from my mouth.

"**T'hai'la, ashal-veh, ashayam,… my beloved…**"

I raise my head, looking at him, in ecstasy.

He's back.

His long lonely journey, my long anxious waiting are ended.

I snuggle up to him, my face nuzzling into his neck, and a murmur comes out from my lips, while they caress his skin.

"**My love, my love, my love! … MY TRIP!!**"

**The End** (_Of the Ulysses odyssey. A new beginning for the bliss of Ulysses and Penelope—__**Together**__._)


End file.
